Decades of living recklessly

[60FlatTop]

I came across this article. Pretty good. My big chuckle was reading that people had not yet learned to make left hand turns. They do now?

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan-history/2015/04/26/auto-traffic-history-detroit/26312107/

 

 

[rocketraider]

Bernie, that's the best book or album title I've heard in a while!👍

 

Had you been traveling with us thru rural North Carolina yesterday, you'd have sworn drivers STILL don't understand how to make a left turn against traffic when there's no traffic lights. 'Course it was our own fault we drove thru the little town of Elon when the college kids were changing classes...

 

 

Think I'm right that Michigan allows left turns on red lights? Got into that nonsense when I went to Lansing for Olds Centennial in 1997. What would get you a reckless driving ticket here in Virginia was apparently state-approved practice there. I didn't know...🤷‍♂️

[Larry Schramm]

Good article

[kar3516]

Great article!  Never thought much about it but the transition to safety was apparently insanely difficult

[JACK M]

Interesting read alright.

[Grimy]

Fun article.  Loved the name of the first (?) "car lawyer" identified as Xenophone P. Huddy:  I may have to use that as a user name somewhere in place of WC Fields' nom de plume Larson P. Whipsnade.  Of course "Xenophone" is a misspelling of Xenophon, the ancient Greek philosopher/military commander/author of Anabasis......

[60FlatTop]

Those were revolutionary days. The ability of the human senses to operate the controls of a vehicle at speeds in excess of 10 MPH were questioned by the upper class society for fear of what the "common man" would do. Then Henry Ford put $5 per day in wages for that same "common man". The wealthy were outraged at the damage that could cause.

 

In the hundred year interim we are still looking for proof that either idea was a wise choice.

 

Some ideas just don't take in collateral affects. Fifty years ago there was a scheme to guaranty college loan costs in an effort to increase lifespan earning with a proportional increase in lifespan tax paid. Half a century later there is a budget crisis every year, the loans go unpaid, and I think something in that article time period, December, 1913, messed that up as well.

 

Good article on a revolutionary time.

[Jim Skelly]

7 hours ago, rocketraider said:

Think I'm right that Michigan allows left turns on red lights? Got into that nonsense when I went to Lansing for Olds Centennial in 1997. What would get you a reckless driving ticket here in Virginia was apparently state-approved practice there. I didn't know...🤷‍♂️

Michigan allows a left turn on a red light if there is a blinking red arrow (very rare), but you have to stop first and you have to yield to oncoming traffic.  More common is a red arrow that turns green after oncoming traffic has stopped.  A right turn on red is permitted unless a sign is posted indicating that it isn't allowed.    

[Larry Schramm]

1 hour ago, Jim Skelly said:

Michigan allows a left turn on a red light if there is a blinking red arrow (very rare), but you have to stop first and you have to yield to oncoming traffic.  More common is a red arrow that turns green after oncoming traffic has stopped.  A right turn on red is permitted unless a sign is posted indicating that it isn't allowed.    

 

I see lots of blinking red arrows living in Michigan

[Jim Skelly]

okay, but I don't see a lot in Wayne County (maybe because we have a lot of red light runners!)

[Twisted Shifter]

...per the article:

 

"By the mid-1920s a national, uniform approach to street and highway safety was formed under the direction of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. Automobile manufacturers began to improve reliability and adopt safety features such as turn signals, brake lights, safety glass and standard head lamps. States required drivers to take tests and to be licensed. In the 1930s driver's education began to be required. The days of free-for-all driving were over."

 

Really??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Grimy]

9 minutes ago, Twisted Shifter said:

...per the article:

 

"By the mid-1920s a national, uniform approach to street and highway safety was formed under the direction of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. Automobile manufacturers began to improve reliability and adopt safety features such as turn signals, brake lights, safety glass and standard head lamps. States required drivers to take tests and to be licensed. In the 1930s driver's education began to be required. The days of free-for-all driving were over."

 

Really??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2nd photo is 1st & Market Sts in San Francisco; the 3rd is in India and is appears consistent with my experience on a better than average day in New Delhi.

[JACK M]

In Oregon one may make a left turn on a red if it is onto a one-way street.

Then only to the nearest lane.

[Larry Schramm]

8 hours ago, JACK M said:

In Oregon one may make a left turn on a red if it is onto a one-way street.

Then only to the nearest lane.

 

Michigan too.

[Str8-8-Dave]

On 11/8/2022 at 8:39 PM, Larry Schramm said:

Michigan allows a left turn on a red light if there is a blinking red arrow (very rare), but you have to stop first and you have to yield to oncoming traffic.

Michigan also allows a left turn on any red light if there is no lane on the other side of the intersection that opposing traffic can appear in (I.E. U-turn lanes with a traffic light on divided highway), once the cross traffic clears. 

[rocketraider]

Wayal... this Vajenyan didn't know nothin' bout no left turn on red (as said, illegal in the Commonwealth and almost certain to earn you a R-D complete with heavy fine and insurance points) and heard a whole lotta blaring horns and rude comments and gestures when I sat in line to make a protected left turn on green.

[Flivverking]

I didn't go any farther then the heading.

 3rd generation banjo player,starting at 6 years old...Thats living on the crazy  edge?

Everything else is pure vanilla .

Edited November 10, 2022 by Flivverking (see edit history)

[Frank DuVal]

Um, Glen, it is legal. From a one way street onto another one way street. I did it all the time in downtown Richmond. 

 

I can not see it being legal from a two way street onto either a one or two way street, too many variables to cause a wreck.